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New Zealand back to winning ways after holding off South Africa in Eden Park battle

  • All Blacks bounce back from shock defeat to Argentina with 24-17 win

  • New Zealand’s unbeaten run in Auckland extends to 51 matches

New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides.

Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches.

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© Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

© Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

© Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

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‘Every surfer feeling this’: tight-knit community mourns fatal shark attack on Sydney’s northern beaches

Experienced surfer and father killed by suspected great white in city’s first fatal shark incident in years

The Sydney man had been in the water with mates for about half an hour on Saturday morning off the city’s northern beaches.

The arrival of spring, after weeks of torrential rain, and an easing swell, had sent thousands back to the water across the city.

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© Photograph: Robert Joodat/Instagram @ramin3m/Reuters

© Photograph: Robert Joodat/Instagram @ramin3m/Reuters

© Photograph: Robert Joodat/Instagram @ramin3m/Reuters

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An ale star cast: pint-pulling Rupert Everett surprises country pub’s punters

Hollywood actor helps out at the Swan at Enford in Wiltshire as he and his neighbours fight to save their local

It was a pleasant surprise when a visitor to the Swan at Enford, a thatched pub tucked away in the folds of the Wiltshire countryside, found themselves being served a pint by one of the UK’s most famous actors.

“They had come in off the main road and asked if it was my pub,” said Rupert Everett, the star of films such as Another Country, My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Madness of King George.

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© Photograph: CAMRA

© Photograph: CAMRA

© Photograph: CAMRA

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‘Reclaim our flag’: saltire becomes cultural battleground in Scotland as tensions rise over asylum housing

From Falkirk to Aberdeen, the Scottish flag has become a contested emblem in protests around migration

After Friday prayers last week, Mahmooda Syedain and her husband went shopping for flags, specifically the national flag of Scotland, the blue and white cross of St Andrew.

The community activist lives in Falkirk, a former iron and steel town midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh where unemployment is rising, and where an anonymous two-floor building tucked behind the local Lidl store has become the focus of the largest asylum hotel protests in Scotland.

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© Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

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Alex Lawther: ‘I really like kissing – I’m always looking forward to the next one’

The Alien: Earth star on the joys of kissing, disliking his forehead, and the time he tried (and failed) to get arrested

Born in Hampshire, Alex Lawther, 30, made his West End debut in David Hare’s South Downs at 16. In 2014 he played the young Alan Turing in the film The Imitation Game, earning him a London Critics’ Circle award. In 2016, he starred in the Black Mirror episode Shut Up and Dance, and from 2017 he played the lead in Channel 4’s The End of the F***ing World. He appears in the series Alien: Earth, a prequel to the 1979 Alien film, which is streaming on Hulu. He lives in London with his partner.

When were you happiest?
Last year, during four days in January, when I directed Rhoda, my second short film, in a tiny house in Camberwell with Juliet Stevenson and Emma D’Arcy.

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© Photograph: David Fisher/Shutterstock

© Photograph: David Fisher/Shutterstock

© Photograph: David Fisher/Shutterstock

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Slow Horses author Mick Herron: ‘I love doing things that are against the rules’

As the hit thriller returns to our screens, its creator talks about false starts, surprise inspirations – and why he never looks inside Jackson Lamb’s head

It is hard to imagine anyone less like the slovenly, has-been MI5 agent Jackson Lamb than his creator, Mick Herron. “He must come deep out of my subconscious,” the 62-year-old thriller writer jokes, sipping mineral water at a rooftop bar in his home city of Oxford, a world away from London’s Aldersgate where his bestselling Slough House series is set. In a “blue shirt, white tee” (fans will get the reference), he is softly spoken with a hint of a Geordie accent. Herron is often described as the heir to John le Carré and “the best spy novelist of his generation”, according to the New Yorker. Unlike le Carré, he’s not, and never has been, a spy. Mysteriously, though, Wikipedia has given him “an entirely fictitious” birthday. “I got cards. I got a cake,” he says.

For the uninitiated, the novels and award-winning TV series follow a bunch of misfit spooks exiled to Slough House from MI5 for various mishaps and misdemeanours, so far away from the shiny HQ in Regent’s Park that it may as well be in Slough. The joke is that these hapless underdogs (nicknamed “slow horses”), under the grubby reins of Lamb, always triumph over the slicker agents and “the Dogs” at the Park.

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© Photograph: Peter Flude/The Guardian

© Photograph: Peter Flude/The Guardian

© Photograph: Peter Flude/The Guardian

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How I became a Buffalo Bills fan – and learned what home means

I never cared about football. Then my Buffalonian boyfriend’s family brought me into the fold – and I discovered how failure, fandom and community intertwine

On 14 October 2024, having never supported a team before, or, to be honest, especially liked sports at all, I became a Buffalo Bills fan. I’d been going out with my Buffalonian boyfriend for more than a year, which I think in his parents’ eyes meant my introduction to the team that animates their entire hometown was overdue. They drove down to New York City, kitted me out in a Bills baseball cap, hoodie and blanket (and plastic Bills bag to hold it all in) – and took me to a game.

I thought I’d seen enough Super Bowls to know I didn’t care about football, but wrapped in that staticky blanket, one of the few spots of Buffalo blue in a snake-green sea of Jets supporters at MetLife Stadium, I realized what I’d been missing: a team. Or more specifically: this team.

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© Photograph: Bryan M Bennett/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bryan M Bennett/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bryan M Bennett/Getty Images

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‘Existential crisis’: how Google’s shift to AI has upended the online news model

Media sites are taking action on several fronts as traffic referrals dry up and AI companies plunder their content

When the chief executive of the Financial Times suggested at a media conference this summer that rival publishers might consider a “Nato for news” alliance to strengthen negotiations with artificial intelligence companies there was a ripple of chuckles from attendees.

Yet Jon Slade’s revelation that his website had seen a “pretty sudden and sustained” decline of 25% to 30% in traffic to its articles from readers arriving via internet search engines quickly made clear the serious nature of the threat the AI revolution poses.

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© Photograph: Camille Cohen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Camille Cohen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Camille Cohen/AFP/Getty Images

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Move over fashion week: Chanel and Dior soft launch creations at Venice film festival

Big brands use red carpets and gondolas in Italian city to show looks from newly installed designers

After a year of musical chairs in the fashion industry, September is poised to be one of its biggest show months ever, with debut collections from 15 creative directors.

Rather than waiting for the catwalk, over the past 10 days brands including Chanel and Dior have given themselves a head start at the Venice film festival, using its starry red carpets and even gondolas to soft launch looks from their newly installed designers.

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© Composite: Shutterstock/Getty

© Composite: Shutterstock/Getty

© Composite: Shutterstock/Getty

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Shein UK accused of moving ‘vast bulk of income’ to Singapore to cut British tax

Fast-fashion retailer rejects accusations as Fair Tax Foundation questions its tax arrangements

Shein’s UK arm has been accused of transferring the “vast bulk of income” to its Singaporean parent in order to cut its British tax bill.

The company, which had been considering a £50bn float on the London Stock Exchange but is expected to list in Hong Kong, paid just £9.6m in corporation tax despite taking £2bn in sales last year.

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© Photograph: Arnaud Finistre/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arnaud Finistre/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arnaud Finistre/AFP/Getty Images

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Non-smoker fined £433 for dropping cigarette butt in Manchester

Steve Jones was hundreds of miles away in Maidstone arranging family funeral at time of alleged offence

A non-smoker was convicted at a magistrates court after Manchester city council accused him of dropping a cigarette butt in the city centre – even though he was hundreds of miles away, arranging a family funeral at the time.

Steve Jones, a 53-year-old teacher, lives 200 miles away in Teddington, Greater London, has only been to Manchester three times, and doesn’t smoke.

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© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

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Millions of UK mobile phones to receive test emergency alert on Sunday

Devices will vibrate and make a siren sound for 10 seconds at 3pm, with message confirming alert is a test

Millions of mobile phones will vibrate and make a siren sound across the UK on Sunday afternoon during a test of a nationwide emergency alert system.

Handset users will also receive a message on their screens reminding them the 10-second alert, which will happen at 3pm, is a test. There are about 87m mobile phones in the UK.

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© Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA

© Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA

© Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA

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UK couple may have to evict Ukrainian refugees owing to planning rules

Rosemary Duckett, 80, and her husband, Anthony, 88, say situation is ‘bureaucracy gone mad’

A couple who the prime minister thanked for housing Ukrainian refugees have been told by their local council they may have to evict their current guest due to planning rules which the couple describe as “bureaucracy gone mad”.

Rosemary Duckett, 80, a retired magistrate and former chair of her local YMCA, and her husband, Anthony, 88, have been providing accommodation in a room above their garage to Ukrainian refugees since 2022.

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© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

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World Cup qualifying buildup to England v Andorra, WSL Q&A and Football League – matchday live

Feels like international break fatigue is setting in already.

Things you never thought you’d see, and really don’t want to see: Boris Johnson in conversation with Nottingham Forest president Evangelos Marinakis. The Greek tycoon has some interesting views on the Ukraine-Russia war, one that rather contravenes his stance on Morgan Gibbs-White being allowed to join Tottenham.

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© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

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Why the legacy of East Germany’s prefab housing blocks is more relevant than ever

Once considered progressive, then later derided, a new exhibition is exploring the developments’ place as part of a collective experience

Communist East Germany’s high-rise prefab residential blocks and their political and cultural impact in what was one of the biggest social housing experiments in history is the focus of a new art exhibition, in which the unspoken challenges of today’s housing crisis loom large.

Wohnkomplex (living complex) Art and Life in Prefabs explores the legacy of the collective experience of millions of East Germans, as well as serving as a poignant reminder that the “housing question”, whether under dictatorship or democracy, is far from being solved.

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© Photograph: InGestalt/t InGestalt/Michael Ehritt

© Photograph: InGestalt/t InGestalt/Michael Ehritt

© Photograph: InGestalt/t InGestalt/Michael Ehritt

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Uefa has last chance to keep genie of domestic matches abroad in its bottle

Domestic game risks being ripped from its fabric as La Liga and Serie A seek approval from Uefa to play fixtures abroad

It has been called the biggest existential threat to European football since the ill-fated Super League. Now it is on the verge of becoming reality and the implications will be far reaching if, as widely expected, La Liga and Serie A are given permission in the coming weeks to host domestic games abroad. The sport risks being ripped from its fabric should Barcelona and Villarreal be allowed to break the mould and stage a top-flight fixture in Miami this December.

The topic has dominated discussion in football’s corridors of power recently and, at the heart of a complex and deeply emotive problem, the immediate equation is simple. If Uefa’s executive committee agrees to the plans when it convenes in Tirana on Thursday the final say will be down to Fifa, probably at a meeting of its council on 2 October. The global governing body would be unlikely to put up opposition and the question, at that point, will be just how earth-shattering a precedent has been set.

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© Photograph: Manaure Quintero/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Manaure Quintero/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Manaure Quintero/AFP/Getty Images

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‘No pets, no guests, no music’ – and now ‘no wfh’: why house-share ads are getting ever stricter | Kimi Chaddah

It’s not just landlords: many flatmates are now imposing draconian rules. But the real problem is a system that pits tenants against each other

Last week, I came across a flurry of ads on the house-share site SpareRoom sounding less like they were for cosy, inviting living arrangements than for boarding schools. “Please note – no surprise guests, no music and no use of the living room because it doubles as a bedroom,” wrote one “current flatmate”. Reading it, I wondered if there would be a curfew too.

The tendency of some landlords to police their tenants’ behaviour has been well documented, imposing rules that range from the reluctantly accepted, such as no pets allowed, to the absurd: not using the kitchen at night; ideally being away at weekends; and, in one case, effectively restricting use of the toilet due to a noise ban after 8.30pm extending to the sound of walking.

Kimi Chaddah is a freelance writer

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© Photograph: CreativeDesignArt/Getty Images

© Photograph: CreativeDesignArt/Getty Images

© Photograph: CreativeDesignArt/Getty Images

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Higher defence spending is pointless without climate aid, says UN chief

Achim Steiner says cuts to development budget are shortsighted in an interconnected global economy

Spending more on defence will be pointless unless western governments also tackle the climate crisis in poor countries, the UN’s departing chief of international development has warned.

“The more you restrict your ability to act by simply focusing on what’s happening inside your country, the more vulnerable you become,” said Achim Steiner, who recently completed his second term as administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which works on overseas aid and lifting people out of poverty. “Vulnerability can then very quickly translate into a very real crisis scenario.”

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© Photograph: Igor Kovalenko/EPA

© Photograph: Igor Kovalenko/EPA

© Photograph: Igor Kovalenko/EPA

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Deadlifting beef adds unnecessary weight to world of inspirational beefcakes | Barney Ronay

Game of Thrones star ‘Thor’ Björnsson aims to lift 510kg this weekend but has cast gentle giant Eddie Hall as his nemesis

There are probably sound structural reasons why the Eddie Hall deadlift world record video from July 2016 is so hard to stop watching, why it has become a sleeper internet phenomenon, a thing people go back to, theorise about, commune over in ways that seem both lighthearted and also deeply-felt in the way of all the best sport.

Part of this is its stark and simple theatre. The video is 55 seconds long. It features what seems at first to be an abandoned American-style fridge‑freezer, but turns out on closer inspection to be a single very square man, essentially a seamless slab of human muscle, quivering slightly, moaning to himself, profoundly alone even in front of a boisterous full-house crowd.

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© Illustration: Robin Hursthouse/The Guardian

© Illustration: Robin Hursthouse/The Guardian

© Illustration: Robin Hursthouse/The Guardian

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British couple killed in Lisbon funicular crash named

Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, among passengers who died when the Elevador da Glória derailed

A British couple killed in Lisbon after a funicular streetcar derailed on Wednesday have been named as Kayleigh Smith and William Nelson.

Smith, 36, and Nelson, 44, died alongside 14 other people after the Elevador da Glória hurtled down a hill and careered into a building.

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© Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

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Angus Bell’s last-gasp try gives Wallabies dramatic Rugby Championship win over Argentina

  • Australia edge Pumas 28-24 after thrilling finale to game in Townsville

  • Hosts rewarded for pushing for victory when draw was on table

The Wallabies have turned down three opportunities to kick a match-tying penalty and instead scored an 86th-minute winner in their latest Houdini Test act.

Australia beat Argentina 28-24 in Townsville on Saturday afternoon, with Angus Bell’s barging try coming after the Wallabies trailed by three points with 90 seconds to go.

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© Photograph: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

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Ken Dryden, Hall of Fame goalie who led Canadiens to six Stanley Cups, dies aged 78

  • Backstopped Montreal to six Stanley Cups in 1970s

  • Canadian PM Mark Carney pays tribute to legend

  • Dryden was also author, Leafs president and MP

Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goaltender who helped the Montreal Canadiens win six Stanley Cup titles in the 1970s, has died after a fight with cancer. He was 78.

The Canadiens announced his death early Saturday, saying Dryden’s family asked for privacy. A team spokesperson said a close friend of Dryden’s appointed by the family contacted the organization, adding he died peacefully Friday at his home.

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© Photograph: Ryan Remiorz/AP

© Photograph: Ryan Remiorz/AP

© Photograph: Ryan Remiorz/AP

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What links a US hare, a fat-free diet and the Peasants’ Revolt? The Saturday quiz

From Josiah Amberley, Mr Melas and Jonas Oldacre to Yellow Pearl and Whole Lotta Love, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 What is the UK’s only (mainly) German-language No 1 single?
2 What three verdicts are available in Scottish criminal trials?
3 Which 70s film had the tagline “Hell, upside down”?
4 How long is a chiliad?
5 Which Byzantine empress was a bear keeper’s daughter?
6 Steel Dragon 2000 in Kuwana, Japan, is the world’s longest what?
7 Which big cat’s name come from Quechuan?
8 Which lawn game was a medal sport at the 1900 Olympics?
What links:
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American hare; embodiment of winter; Stuart executions; fat-free diet; Peasants’ Revolt?
10 Edward Jenner; Louis Pasteur; Jonas Salk; Sarah Gilbert?
11 Dome of Discovery; Skylon; Shot Tower; Telecinema; 1851 Centenary Pavilion?
12 Red Hot Pop; Now Get Out of That; Yellow Pearl; Whole Lotta Love?
13 Josiah Amberley; Mr Melas; Jonas Oldacre; Neville St Clair; Godfrey Staunton?
14 Andreanof; Fox; Four Mountains; Near; Rat (but not Commander)?
15 Zimbabwean swimmer; German fencer; Belgian sailor?

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© Photograph: DeepDesertPhoto/Getty Images/RooM RF

© Photograph: DeepDesertPhoto/Getty Images/RooM RF

© Photograph: DeepDesertPhoto/Getty Images/RooM RF

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